When
Channel 9 News needed to know why ... 9 News came to
Denver Gold and Silver Exchange to find out why

DENVER
- A Beverly Hills, Calif. man bought a 1792 Birch Cent
for $2.585 million at an auction in Orlando, Fla. last
week. It is the most amount of money ever spent on a
penny.

"When you feel these, and you pick them up and touch
them, its hundreds and hundreds of years of history as
to why we're here," Denver Coin Store owner Adam Brewer
said, as he showed off his collection of old coins.

The history is a major reason this piece of copper sold
for so much. In 1792, the newly founded United States
was looking for a way to become less dependent on
British currency. Also, the money they were using were
printed in denominations unobtainable by the lower
class.

"When Hamilton and Jefferson decided that we wanted to
make our own coinage and Congress said to make a mint,
they decided they wanted to have smaller denominations
for the poorer people to be able to actually trade and
buy stuff with," Brewer explained.